African Nationhood

Chapter 289 Shi’s Machine No.
  Otto Lilienthal has been walking with wind recently. After the success of the glider experiment last year, his team members obtained a lot of experimental data after hundreds of experiments.

After the glider experiment, their team entered the next stage under the guidance of Boss Shi, which was the control of the aircraft in the air.

How does the pilot control the aircraft in the air so that the aircraft can fly smoothly and safely? It is very dangerous to fly without ensuring safety.

They returned to the Anhai Town Arsenal to study and discuss. It happened that Boss Shi was free, so he took them to build a wind tunnel and experimented with them in the wind tunnel on how to control the aircraft to maintain stability.

After more than two months of trial and error, their team found some tricks, but in Boss Shi’s opinion it was still too rough.

So Boss Shi personally guided them to try the method of warping wings, and also installed ailerons on the experimental equipment. In this way, the method of controlling the aircraft was considered complete.

Last November, Germany sent an all-aluminum internal combustion engine.

This made Shi Jintang very happy. He immediately ordered someone to make a wooden propeller, assembled it and gave it to Otto Lilienthal.

Otto Lilienthal's team experienced the powerful power of an aluminum engine combined with a propeller through experiments.

The powerful power brought by this 45-horsepower internal combustion engine is beyond imagination. At this point, the prerequisites for the aircraft have been met.

After much thought, Boss Shi drew the aircraft drawings designed by Feng Ru and handed them over to Otto Lilienthal's team.

Feng Ru's aircraft was lighter and had a better driving experience than the Wright brothers'. At the same time, Feng Ru's landing gear device continued in the aviation industry until Shi Jintang crossed over, which fully illustrates the merits of Feng Ru's aircraft design. .

It's a pity that this Chinese mechanical genius died in a plane crash during the test flight.

Otherwise, there will definitely be a place for this Chinese genius in the history of aircraft manufacturing in the future.

……

Otto Lilienthal arranged for workers to assemble the world's first flying machine based on the design drawings. This machine used thin steel bars and aluminum alloy tubes as the skeleton, and thin canvas boards as the wings.

Because the design and machinery of this prototype aircraft were provided by Boss Shi, it was named after the first aircraft assembled by Otto Lilienthal’s team: “Shi’s No. 1 Machine.”

The machine was successfully assembled, and all that was left was to take it to the sky for a test flight.

In order to reduce the weight during flight, their team once again chose Wang Long as the pilot for the first flight, with Otto Lilienthal as the backup.

This flight test still chose to be conducted on a sand dune. Their team continued to use the previous 35-meter-high sand dune and laid a longer stone runway on the dune.

This experiment was more about testing the aircraft's control in the air and collecting flight data. It was also intended to test the aircraft's load-bearing limit.

They need to prepare in advance and ensure that all preparations are made before Boss Shi comes.

……

When Shi Jintang arrived at the flight test site, it happened to be morning and he met Wang Long and his group going to the test site.

When Wang Long and others saw the luxurious "Crown" car, they were even more overjoyed, "This is the legendary car, isn't it, Mr. Shi?"

Shi Jintang hummed. Driving this crappy car to the desert was definitely the worst decision he had ever made.

Due to its small engine power and narrow wheels, the Crown car always skidded on the sandy road.

In the end, I had to be pushed around to get here. However, this thing is definitely a rarity in the eyes of others.

After everyone from the flight team came to pay their respects to the "Crown" car, everyone became quiet.

After observing the wind for a while, Otto Lilienthal made a decision: "Mr. Shi's weather conditions today are good enough for a test flight, so let's do it today."

"Well, you are the experimenters. I listen to you. I'm just here to witness history."

Now that Boss Shi had spoken, Otto Lilienthal and the others all took action because the plane had already been lifted up by them.

What needs to be done now is still the pilot's pre-takeoff inspection. The team is divided into different groups. Some are responsible for inspecting the wings, some are responsible for inspecting the engine, and some are responsible for checking whether the steel bars and aluminum alloy pipes everywhere are firm.

Also check whether the anchor cables holding the wings are loose.

The most important thing is to check the test pilot's preparations, thick clothes, goggles, rattan helmet, food, compass, map, revolver, dagger, etc.

There are so many of them that the test pilot must wear a specially made suit with more pockets.

As for the canvas parachute, bring it with you. Regardless of whether it is useful or not, it is better than catching someone blind in an emergency.

……

Ready, "fully armed" Wang Long boarded "Shi's No. 1 Machine".

Wang Long took a deep breath, then nodded to the assistant beside him, who pulled the propeller and started the engine.

"Bah, bah~~~" The all-aluminum engine spit out bursts of black smoke, and then the propeller's thrust became stronger and stronger. Wang Long let go of the pedal.

"Shi's Unit No. 1" followed the downward slope and began to dive downward.

Wang Long stepped on the pedal, the vibration of the engine became more severe, the propeller speed became faster and faster, and the propulsion force also increased accordingly, coupled with the acceleration of the dive.

The moment the plane rushed down the sand dune, Wang Long felt a strong upward thrust driving him and the machine underneath him to rise diagonally upward.

Wang Long quickly released his grip and grabbed the two joysticks beside him.

These two wooden control rods are connected to the tail fins and ailerons on the wings. He must judge the direction of the airflow clearly before he can adjust the ailerons and tail fins based on previous practice to maintain the balance of the aircraft.

After some intense and skillful maneuvers, he and the aircraft under him maintained stability. It all seemed very slow, but Wang Long's quick reaction to the maneuvers was very fast.

After he balanced the fuselage, a burst of cheers erupted from behind.

A smile appeared on Wang Long's lips, and then he began to visually measure his flying height.

He was currently at an altitude of 40 meters above the ground. If he was flying well before, he stepped on the pedals and the propellers started working again.

As the vibration frequency of the aluminum engine increased, the aircraft he controlled also began to fly faster.

After flying stably for a certain distance, Wang Long began to control the aircraft to turn and fly. If he can succeed, he will be the first Chinese in the world to successfully fly an aircraft!
  Although he had trained countless times underground, Wang Long still went through the essentials of the movements in his mind at this moment, and then directly adjusted the warp of the tail according to the instinctive reaction of his hands.

As he operated, the entire aircraft's huge fuselage began to turn.

Shi Jintang below was frightened when he saw it. Can this thing really be successful?

Although Boss Shi didn't have high hopes for this flight, he still secretly prayed that the turn would be successful.

In the end, Boss Shi's prayer took effect, and the aircraft successfully turned around and started flying in a circle.

The rumbling engines and the buzzing of the propellers above could not resist the enthusiasm of the people below. Some people had already begun to hug each other in celebration.

When Boss Shi saw the planes circling in the sky, a smile appeared on his lips. He said to Shi Ming: "This thing is the most reliable designed by us Chinese!"

Shi Ming nodded and said jokingly: "That's right, Sir, what you designed is just right!"

Shi Jintang chuckled, "Well, that's right."

……

Otto Lilienthal was the calmest among the people below. He knew that being able to fly did not mean anything. Only a safe landing meant that the flight was successful.

So he took out the glass mirror and signaled Wang Lung above to come down.

Wang Long, whose eyes were dazzled by the glass mirror, relaxed his pedals and the aircraft's flight speed slowed down.

He stopped circling and flew towards the runway area.

The people below, under the command of Otto Lilienthal, had already gone to the runway to prepare.

Wang Long's control speed of the aircraft dropped to the minimum, and the height of the aircraft also slowly dropped. He turned the steering wheel in front of him as if to use a power rudder, and began to concentrate on keeping the front wheels straight until the front wheels of the aircraft touched the ground, otherwise he might suffer aircraft damage. The fate of death.

"puff"

The descending front wheel landed smoothly, and the rubber wheel was scorched black the moment it came into contact with the tamped stone slab.

"Boom", the entire aircraft landed, and the three wheels landed smoothly.

"Stab", but the huge fuselage still drove the fuselage forward with huge inertia, and the rubber tires continued to rub and collide with the uneven stone slabs.

The entire fuselage also "beats" with the collision,
  After the fuselage slid for more than two hundred meters, it finally came to a steady stop.

"Long live!"

"Long live Mr. Shi!"

"Long live Shi's Unit 1!"

"We made it!!!"

The runway area became a sea of ​​cheers, and Shi Jintang was also inspired by everyone, laughing wildly...

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  (End of this chapter)